Category Archives: Church Systems

Christmas Eve is one week away. I have the privilege of coaching four of our Redemption church planters on a regular basis, and I recently shared with them some of the key lessons I’ve learned from doing Christmas Eve services. They gave encouraging feedback, so I thought I’d share it more broadly. 1. Evaluation. […]

Yesterday I took our staff to tour the Amazon Fulfillment Center (it’s named “Phoenix 6”). “Fulfillment Center” sounds like a place where all your dreams would come true, but it’s really just a giant warehouse where Amazon orders are processed and shipped (maybe the same thing if you like shopping online). It was amazing. The first […]

This is one of the most important questions a leader can ask, and Geoff Surratt’s post about it is one of my all-time favorites. Worth reading over and over. In one part he says: Israel created an elaborate and efficient church that ran very well without God. The priests and Levites excelled at their roles, the […]

Last weekend I took our five Pastoral Residents on a church tour where we visited six different worship services. While our goal wasn’t to be negatively critical, I wanted the guys to pay attention to what they were experiencing. Through an experience like that you begin to notice a lot of little things. This is […]

My last few posts have been about Redemption Church’s multi-congregational model and then about why I believe this model is better than the video multi-site model. (Note: I didn’t say that our church is better than the video multi-site churches, but that our model is better). In this post, I want to discuss four advantages […]

I am a Lead Pastor and part of the Leadership Team of Redemption Church, a growing multi-congregational church in Arizona. Our model of doing church is quite different from what most people have experienced. Especially among church leaders, we get a lot of questions about how and why we do what we do. This post […]

One of the most satisfying things in life is to have clarity on your job and know that you’re doing it well. Conversely, if you’re uncertain about what you’re supposed to be doing and unsure about whether you’re doing it well, it’s a sure path to a miserable job. That’s why, at Redemption Gateway, we […]

We all know there are different kinds of leaders with different strengths. None of us are good at everything. Many of the pastors and church planters I know are strong in vision, Bible, or in caring for people, but really want (and need) help in the area of systems, strategy, organization, structure, and processes. It’s […]

Leaders have big ideas, strong confidence and inspiring faith. They can see what their organization, team, business, ministry or church will eventually become. They envision it a few years down the road running at full-steam with plenty of resources, support, and specialization. But they make a big mistake if they try to create that full-orbed […]

When it comes to organization, a local church is an ecosystem of ministry environments. No single environment can adequately address all the needs of the people in a church. They work together. There’s an important ministry environment that every church needs, but not every church has. Without it, churches and leaders are missing a ripe […]